Ben Woollaston

Ben Woollaston (born 14 May 1987)[4] is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. His sole professional title came at the minor-ranking third Players Tour Championship event in 2011. Woollaston's only ranking event final came at the 2015 Welsh Open, in which he lost to John Higgins.

Ben Woollaston
Woollaston at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic
Born (1987-05-14) 14 May 1987
Leicester, England
Sport country England
Professional2004/2005, 2006–2008, 2009–
Highest ranking25 (March–April 2016 and February 2017)[1][2][3]
Current ranking 37 (as of 1 February 2021)
Career winnings£501,757
Highest break147:
2014 Lisbon Open
Century breaks134
Best ranking finishRunner-up (2015 Welsh Open)
Tournament wins
Minor-ranking1
Non-ranking1

Career

Born in Leicester, England, Woollaston began his professional career by playing the Challenge Tour in 2003, at the time the second-level professional tour.[5] He first entered the Main Tour for the 2004–05 season, but was unable to retain his place for the following season. He regained his place for 2006–07 by winning the European Under-19 Championship.[4] He was awarded a concessionary place for the 2007–08 tour. Woollaston has twice reached the final group stages of the Grand Prix in 2006 and 2007, enjoying a marginally better tournament in 2006 by winning two matches compared to none in 2007. He also reached the final stages of the 2007 Welsh Open, beating David Gray to reach the second round, in which he lost 2–5 to seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry.[4]

2011/2012 season: First title

Woollaston's second professional title was Event 3 of the Players Tour Championship in the 2011–12 season. He defeated former World Champion Graeme Dott 4–2 in the final.[6] His performances in the other 11 PTCs, including a quarter-final run in Event 8, saw him claim ninth place in the Order of Merit and therefore qualify for the 2012 Finals. It was the first time he made it to the main stages of a ranking event since 2007. He played Ding Junhui in the opening round and lost 2–4.[7][8] Woollaston also qualified for the 2012 China Open by winning three qualifying matches, concluding with a 5–4 victory over Ryan Day.[9] He played Ding again in the first round of the event, and looked to be on course for a shock result as he led 4–0 at the interval in the best-of-nine frame match. However, Ding found his form, and won five successive frames to take the match 5–4.[10] His season concluded with a 3–10 loss to Dominic Dale in the final qualifying round for the World Championship and he finished ranked world number 43, meaning he had risen 26 places from the start of the season, the most of anyone on the tour.[11][12]

2012/2013 season

Woollaston failed to qualify for nine of the eleven ranking events in the 2012–13 season.[13] He fared much better in the minor ranking PTC events, as he was a losing quarter-finalist in four of the ten tournaments to finish 10th on the Order of Merit.[14] This saw him qualify for the Finals, where he defeated Mark Williams and Joe Perry both 4–3 to reach his first ever ranking event quarter-final.[13][15] He played Kurt Maflin and was this time on the wrong end of a 4–3 scoreline.[16] Woollaston kept his form going into the World Championship Qualifiers by beating Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10–3 in the third round to face Ryan Day, just one match short of reaching the main draw of the tournament for the first time.[17] There was never more than a single frame between the players in the closing stages of the match with Woollaston compiling a vital break of 64 in the deciding frame to edge the match 10–9 and stated that he wanted to draw reigning champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round as he felt he now had nothing to lose.[18] He drew last year's runner-up Ali Carter and from leading 3–1 and 4–3 Woollaston lost seven frames in a row to exit the tournament, saying afterwards that he had struggled to maintain his confidence and concentration during the match.[19] He climbed 10 spots in the rankings during the season to world number 33, his highest position to date.[20]

2013/2014 season

Woollaston qualified for five ranking events during the 2013–14 season, by far the most he has reached in a single season during his career. At the Wuxi Classic he beat Chen Zhe and Joel Walker both 5–2, before he lost 5–2 to Cao Yupeng in the last 16.[21] Woollaston was defeated in the first round of the Australian Goldfields Open, the International Championship and the German Masters.[21] He saw off Vinnie Calabrese and Alfie Burden with the loss of just one frame to reach the last 32 of the Welsh Open, where he came close to knocking out Ding Junhui but lost 4–3.[22] In the minor-ranking European Tour event the Ruhr Open, Woollaston edged out reigning world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 4–3 and then whitewashed Burden and Chris Norbury 4–0, before losing in a final frame decider to Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals.[21] He went a step further at the Antwerp Open by beating Joel Walker in the quarters, but O'Sullivan this time got the better of Woollaston to win 4–2 in the semi-finals.[23] These results aided him to a 20th placing on the Order of Merit to qualify for the Finals for the third year in a row.[24] Woollaston beat Ding, a four-time winner on the tour this season, 4–3 having been 3–0 behind to advance to the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time this campaign, where he was eliminated 4–2 by John Higgins.[25][26]

2014/2015 season: First ranking final

Woollaston was knocked out of the 2014 Wuxi Classic in the second round 5–3 by Judd Trump, and then failed to qualify for the next two ranking events.[27] In the opening round of the International Championship he led Ronnie O'Sullivan 2–0 and 3–1, but went on to lose 6–4.[28] Woollaston was also beaten 6–2 by the five-time world champion in the third round of the UK Championship, and afterward described his own performance as embarrassing.[29] A week later he achieved the first maximum break of his career at the Lisbon Open in his last 128 match against Joe Steele, but lost 4–3 against Peter Ebdon in the next round.[30] Woollaston won group 6 of the Championship League by seeing off Ebdon 3–0 and progressed through to the semi-finals of the winners' group where he lost 3–2 to Mark Davis.[27]

At the Welsh Open, Woollaston eliminated Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon, Mark Davis, Mark Allen and Ali Carter.[27] He then won four consecutive frames in beating Gary Wilson 5–2 to face home favourite Mark Williams in the semi-finals.[31] Woollaston led 5–3 and missed multiple chances to wrap up the match in the next two frames allowing Williams to send it into a decider. He made a match-winning 60 break to play John Higgins - who had been the favourite player for Woollaston growing up – in his first ranking event final.[32] Higgins fluked a green that helped him edge the first session 5–3 which seemed to sway the whole match as he took all four frames played upon the resumption of play to win 9–3. Afterwards, Woollaston stated that he had never felt he belonged with the top players in the televised stages of ranking events until this week.[33] Woollaston came back from 67–0 down in the deciding frame of his first round Indian Open match to beat Yu Delu on a re-spotted black, and then lost 4–1 to Kyren Wilson in the second round.[34] His best season to date ended with a 10–6 loss to Robin Hull in World Championship qualifying.[27] Woollaston's ranking of 32 in the world after the event was at that point the highest he had ever finished a season.[35]

2015/2016 season

Woollaston lost 4–1 in the semi-finals of the Riga Open to Tom Ford and reached the quarter-finals of the Haining Open, but was beaten 4–2 by Robert Milkins. Two deciding frame victories over Robbie Williams and Yu Delu saw him reach the third round of the International Championship.[36] After recovering from 5–2 down to Joe Perry, he almost won 6–5 for the third time in the week but this time lost the decider.[37] Woollaston was beaten 6–2 in third round of the UK Championship by Shaun Murphy. He reached the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open for the second year in a row, but was defeated 5–1 by Joe Perry.[36] Another came at the PTC Finals with wins over Jimmy Robertson and Matthew Selt and, though he had multiple chances to win the last frame, he lost 4–3 to Murphy.[38] Woollaston lost 10–9 to Chris Wakelin in the first round of World Championship qualifying.[36] He recorded a new career-high end of season world ranking of 27.[39]

2016/2017 season

At the World Open, Woollaston recorded 5–2 and 5–1 wins over Gary Wilson and Ding Junhui, and made a 135 to level his third round tie with Joe Perry at 4–4, but lost the deciding frame.[40] He got to the fourth round of the English Open by beating Cao Yupeng 4–1, Zhang Anda 4–3, and Ali Carter 4–2, and was defeated 4–3 by Liang Wenbo. Woollaston overcame Elliot Slessor 6–5 and Paul Davison 6–4 at the UK Championship, before losing 6–2 to John Higgins.[41] He recorded his first win over Neil Robertson by edging him out 5–4 in the first round of the German Masters and was then knocked out 5–2 by Barry Hawkins.[42] Woollaston also played in the second round of the China Open, but lost 5–4 to Hossein Vafaei.[43] His final-round qualifier match for the World Championship with Zhou Yuelong went to a deciding frame, which Woollaston lost.[44]

Personal life

Woollaston married his wife Tatiana Torchilo, a Belarusian snooker referee, in Pinsk in June 2011, following a ten-month romance.[45] On 8 November 2012, Ben and Tatiana celebrated the birth of their first baby, a son named Edward.[46] Their second son, Henry, was born on 21 October 2017.[47]

Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament 2003/
04		 2004/
05		 2006/
07		 2007/
08		 2009/
10		 2010/
11		 2011/
12		 2012/
13		 2013/
14		 2014/
15		 2015/
16		 2016/
17		 2017/
18		 2018/
19		 2019/
20		 2020/
21
Ranking[48][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 3] [nb 3] 75 [nb 3] 72 69 43 33 40 32 27 28 37 39 42
Ranking tournaments
European Masters[nb 4] A LQ LQ NR Tournament Not Held 1R 3R LQ LQ 2R
English Open Tournament Not Held 4R 3R 3R 2R 4R
Championship League Not Held Non-Ranking Event RR
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R 2R 1R 3R 4R
UK Championship A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 3R 3R 3R 2R 2R 3R 1R
Scottish Open[nb 5] A Tournament Not Held MR Not Held 2R 2R 2R 2R 2R
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR 1R DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
German Masters Tournament Not Held LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ 2R 2R 1R 1R LQ LQ
Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held Variant Format Event 1R 1R 2R QF 1R
Welsh Open A LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 3R F QF 1R 3R 2R 3R
Players Championship[nb 6] Tournament Not Held DNQ 1R QF 2R DNQ QF DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR 3R 1R 3R 4R
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters LQ A LQ LQ LQ A A A A A A A A A A A
Championship League Not Held A A A A A A SF RR RR RR A RR F A
Variant format tournaments
Six-red World Championship[nb 7] Tournament Not Held A A NH A A A A 1R 1R A A
Former ranking tournaments
British Open A LQ Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters A LQ NR Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Not Held LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic[nb 8] Tournament Not Held Non-Ranking LQ 3R 2R Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open Tournament Not Held LQ LQ 1R LQ WR Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters Tournament Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 2R Non-Rank. NH
Paul Hunter Classic[nb 9] NH Pro-am Event Minor-Ranking Event 1R QF 2R NR NH
Indian Open Tournament Not Held LQ 2R NH LQ 2R 1R Not Held
China Open A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ 2R 2R 2R QF Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 10] Tournament Not Held MR LQ 1R 1R 2R NH
International Championship Tournament Not Held LQ 1R 1R 3R LQ 1R 1R 2R NH
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR 1R LQ 1R NH
World Open[nb 11] A LQ RR RR LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ Not Held 3R 2R 2R 1R NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held 1R Ranking Event
Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held A 1R 2R 2R QF 3R Ranking Event
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)		 QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Heldmeans an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event.
RV / Ranking & Variant Format Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking & variant format event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Eventmeans an event is/was a pro-am event.
VF / Variant Format Eventmeans an event is/was a variant format event.
  1. From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. He was an amateur.
  3. New players don't have a ranking.
  4. The event was called the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
  5. The event was called the Players Championship (2003/2004)
  6. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
  7. The event was called the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)
  8. The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  9. The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
  10. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  11. The event was called the LG Cup (2003/2004), the Grand Prix (2004/2005–2009/2010) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2015 Welsh Open John Higgins 3–9

Minor-ranking finals: 1 (1 title)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2011 Players Tour Championship – Event 3 Graeme Dott 4–2

Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2010 EPTC Event 1 Plate Trophy Tom Ford 3–1
Runner-up 1. 2020 (1) Championship League Luca Brecel Round-Robin

Pro-am finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2008 Paul Hunter English Open Xiao Guodong 2–6[49]

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2006 European Under-19 Championship Vincent Muldoon 6–4

Team events

References
  1. "WORLD RANKINGS After 2016 Ladbrokes Players Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  2. "WORLD RANKINGS After 2016 BAIC Motors China Open". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  3. "WORLD RANKINGS After 2017 F66.com German Masters". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  4. "Official player profile of Ben Woollaston". wst.tv. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. "Tour Players" section. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  5. "Ben Woollaston – Season 2003/2004". Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  6. "Woollaston Wins First Pro Title at PTC3". WPBSA. 21 August 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  7. "PTC 8". WWW Snooker. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  8. "PTC Order of Merit after PTC12" (PDF). WPBSA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  9. "2012 China Open Results". Snooker Database. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  10. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/17483325
  11. "Ben Woollaston 2011/2012". Snooker.rog. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  12. "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  13. "Ben Woollaston 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  14. "Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  15. "Maflin And Woollaston Keep Runs Going". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  16. "Cool Kurt into Last Four". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 20 March 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  17. "Betfair World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  18. "Quartet of Debutants Through To Crucible". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  19. "Captain Sets Up Rocket Clash". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 27 April 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  20. "Official World Snooker Ranking List For The 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  21. "Ben Woollaston 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  22. "Maguire and Higgins flawless as Ding scrapes through". ESPN (UK). Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  23. "Selby Beats O'Sullivan in Antwerp Thriller". World Snooker. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  24. "European Order of Merit 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  25. "Defending champion Ding stunned in opening round". ESPN (UK). Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  26. "Higgins to meet 'unstoppable' Fu in Preston last eight". ESPN (UK). Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  27. "Ben Woollaston 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  28. "O'Sullivan Battles To Beat Woollaston". World Snooker. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  29. "Ben Woollaston 'embarrassed' by UK Ronnie O'Sullivan defeat". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  30. "Woollaston Joins 147 Club". worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 12 December 2014. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  31. "Welsh Open: Luca Brecel and Ben Woollaston reach semi-finals in Cardiff". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  32. "Woollaston Shocks Williams To Reach Final". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  33. "Higgins – Prince of Wales". World Snooker. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  34. "Jones puts out fancied Wenbo in Indian Open Snooker". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  35. "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  36. "Ben Woollaston 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  37. "Higgins Stuns Murphy in Last 16". World Snooker. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  38. "Murphy and Allen into Semi". World Snooker. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  39. "Historic Seedings After 2016 World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  40. "Joe Perry 5–4 Ben Woollaston". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  41. "There's more to come from me, says Ben Woollaston after UK Championship snooker win". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  42. "Leicester's Ben Woollaston claims scalp of former world champion at German Masters". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  43. "Ben Woollaston 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  44. "O'Brien Wins Record Two-Hour Frame". World Snooker. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  45. "Pretty in Pinsk". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  46. "New Arrival for the Woollastons". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  47. https://twitter.com/ben_Woollaston/status/921711551282909184%5B%5D
  48. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  49. "Other Non-Ranking and Invitation Events". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  50. "Northern Snooker Centre Eden World Ladies Snooker and Billiards Championships 2014". wlbsa.com. World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association. 18 April 2014. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
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